Battle! : Round 5, Episode 2

Abbot Aloil’s Book of Days
Fall, Day 3

After many quiet days in camp, the first sighting of the enemy was made yesterday. In some ways it was a relief to His Majesty the Prince, I think, after so many days of thinking and rethinking his plans. He feels his responsibilities most deeply.

As soon as the news was received, the army sprang into action.

As planned, most of the men will be placed back in the hills, with all the heavy artillery and under the command of Lord Spirel. Lord Astrin’s cohort of scouts and spies will continue to watch and to coordinate the movement of the forces—it is believed that a relatively small number of Sea People lead the enemy forces, with merely human troops following in the van. Our placement in ambush should enable us to see them approaching and to close the pass by rolling down the heavy stones as soon as the shape-shifters have passed through. Then all will depend upon Prince Tirunedeth, Baron Heureu, and their small picked force of men, to eliminate as many of the demon-spawn as they may.

We are fortunate that His Majesty learned of the special properties of the Eagle Pass during his studies at the College of Riddles in Caithnard. Only here, where ancient reports claim that the great caverns “swallow” magic, could we have the opportunity to deal with our foes as equals. Of course, much hinges upon the truth of the faded documents—but that we cannot know until the moment is upon us.
I plan to remain with the Prince’s force, for better or worse, to document these momentous events for those who may follow us. The men have made their farewells, knowing that battle will be upon us soon.

Fall, day 4
Ah, what a day has passed! We arrived at the pass this morning, and moved into positions of concealment. As always, Prince Tirunedeth set men on watch, including his favorite bowman, whom he trusts above all others.

Late in the afternoon came the word we were awaiting—the enemy had been sighted. We can only hope that the bulk of our forces were in place with Lord Spirel, ready to block the pass before the main enemy army can reach us. No word has arrived this day from Lord Astrin, or from any of the scouts.

The first of the Sea People entered the Pass cautiously, as we watched from our hiding places up on the slopes

Unsurprisingly, the Prince insisted upon being the first to test the invaders in battle, to see if they retained the ability to shape shift, or if they would be forced to fight and die as men, as our equals.

When His Majesty stepped down out of concealment, it was clear that the enemy had no word of our true plans, for they were completely taken aback. As the Prince engaged his foe, the archers began to fire their arrows down into the approaching enemy, and all became chaos and cacophony.

Men were running, shouting, cursing, screaming all about me. Truly, it was a vision from a nightmare, and I saw things which I can only pray that God will remove from my memory in time. I watched His Majesty breathlessly, terrified that he would fall to the enemy or that the demon would suddenly shift or bring the rocks down upon us in a landslide. Although it seemed that days passed, I believe that in truth it was less than an hour that they battled there in the narrow canyon. At last, Prince Tirunedeth’s opponent collapsed to the ground.

All around us, the sounds of battle began to die away. As the Prince wiped his bloody sword clean upon the leaves, and took a weary drink from a flask offered by one of the men, I realized that we had not seen Baron Heureu since the first moment that the invaders had appeared. The thought seemed to occur to His Majesty at the same moment, and he quickly gathered a few of the men to search for his brother by marriage. He bid me stay here, and tend to the wounded and fallen as best I might, and I have done so to the extent of my abilities as a healer and a man of God.

Next episode: http://kerrysims.blogspot.com/2007/07/ultimate-price-round-5-episode-3.html